Dynamics; playing quietly too!

[SIMON GABRIELOW]

People often forget about the way of playing a concertina, of any kind, can be greatly dependant on the touch of the player. I am thinking of not always playing loud, but also more tenderly, or quietly. It is that combination of lessening the pressure on your bellows, along with something else less tangible, with the fingers that can so greatly affect the sound produced.  Personally, within my own limitations, I like to play a piece quietly when needed, almost to a mere whisper, as much as reeds will permit; and slowly too, which can take as much care, in my opinion, to do successfully as the quicker, louder, pieces. I even take advantage ( with my Anglo) of the  duplicated reeds which have a quieter tone, than their compatriots, and make a gentler, translucent sound more effective.

[wunks]

32 minutes ago, SIMON GABRIELOW said:

People often forget about the way of playing a concertina, of any kind, can be greatly dependant on the touch of the player. I am thinking of not always playing loud, but also more tenderly, or quietly. It is that combination of lessening the pressure on your bellows, along with something else less tangible, with the fingers that can so greatly affect the sound produced.  Personally, within my own limitations, I like to play a piece quietly when needed, almost to a mere whisper, as much as reeds will permit; and slowly too, which can take as much care, in my opinion, to do successfully as the quicker, louder, pieces. I even take advantage ( with my Anglo) of the  duplicated reeds which have a quieter tone, than their compatriots, and make a gentler, translucent sound more effective.

I would call it voicing and a powerful way to learn quiet play is to practice with other family members in the house.....😏

[SIMON GABRIELOW]

Well, on that account, ( playing along with family).. I am afraid that there's no one left in my family to play along with! However one piece of music which really tests out for playing gently, and very quietly, is the "Slumber scene".. from Elgar's 'wand of Youth suite.. I transcribed it years ago, on solo line..

I can use the G major row for most of it, and as quietly as I can; and it works quite nicely.

[SIMON GABRIELOW]

I was asked to share my own transcription of Elgar's Slumber scene [Wand of Youth suite] which I transcribed years ago on melody line only.  As it came up In discussion about playing softly [quietly]..

So here is the scanned image from my A4 page [jpeg image]... It does have my old pencilled lettering tablature on it; but should not distract from reading it.  I can play it almost entirely on G major row [Anglo] but sometimes switch between rows.

Edited April 25, 2022 by SIMON GABRIELOW
typo error

[Randy Stein]

From my blog:

https://concertinaguy.medium.com/dynamics-45f3d9d0ba1c

[SIMON GABRIELOW]

That was a great article (blog) Randy, it conjured up a lot of wonderful images in my mind of the people you recalled; myself I learned the ropes in a different way, being mainly visual artist with wide fascination in other art forms, and music. When. I was lot younger I used to play about with a glockenspiel .. and many years later to accompany my father, Jozef, I bought a basic 20 key concertina, which started me off on the road to learning a bit more seriously. After that went up to 30 key variety, which I still use now.

Those lovely teachers you knew obviously inspired and that is a good thing in itself; to encourage student in their quest for acquiring or developing skills. 

Edited April 26, 2022 by SIMON GABRIELOW
Edit word

[wunks]

5 hours ago, Randy Stein said:

From my blog:

https://concertinaguy.medium.com/dynamics-45f3d9d0ba1c

There seems to be a range of bellows pressure where the higher reeds are fully engaged ( louder) and the lower ones while having enough air to start are quieter.  Using small variations in bellows pressure along with feathering the buttons and playing near the closed bellows position allows quite a bit of control.  I find I'm doing this subconsciously for some types of music.  BTW I escaped those days with a mere busted nose....😏

Edited April 26, 2022 by wunks
sp.

[SIMON GABRIELOW]

You could, in a way, consider concertina bellows, as being having "lungs "... And the breathing required maybe like someone singing! Eventually you can run out of air, and like woodwind players, consider how best to use the bellows, ( particularly with Anglo).. Woodwind players have also to think where take suitable 'breathing' space in performance too.

[Martin Essery]

On 4/25/2022 at 8:11 PM, SIMON GABRIELOW said:

I was asked to share my own transcription of Elgar's Slumber scene [Wand of Youth suite] which I transcribed years ago on melody line only.  As it came up In discussion about playing softly [quietly]..

So here is the scanned image from my A4 page [jpeg image]... It does have my old pencilled lettering tablature on it; but should not distract from reading it.  I can play it almost entirely on G major row [Anglo] but sometimes switch between rows.

Thank you so much for the work in transcribing and for sharing that with us ❤️ Do you have a recording of you playing? I can see that the soft beginning makes the later swell of volume more emotive. I am a harpist, only a concertina player for a week, but I am loving the fine control available on this lovely instrument, especially the last note, a swell not available on the harp.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6tZi2OmQTW8

[SIMON GABRIELOW]

Thanks for your interest here ( I have sent you a message; and I actually think a harp is a wonderful instrument as it is.

The Slumber scene tune ( I copied down many years ago) as a way of practicing music that sustains over a period of time, and challenges someone to hold onto a musical thought gradually.

And quietly too; because you can attempt to see how gently it can be played. To me it's about less pressure on bellows, somehow combined with the way fingers go smoothly over the buttons. It's a slumber scene so I think it really needs to have a dreamy unrushed feel. If you listen to Elgar's own gramophone sessions conducting it, it has that yearning, dreamy quality encapsulated within it ( even though old recordings)!

 

If I  recorded it now myself on sound or video, the balance would be making sure sound is still audible when quiet bits come along.

It looks like a project I will have to try out soon as I can.